Poem 22 – What The Mind Forgets, The Heart Remembers

What The Mind Forgets, The Heart Remembers
For Linda C.

decades of days
lived together
burnt toast
flooded basement
mice in walls

where minutes lap like 
Lake Erie warmed 
in the hot summer sun
lost breath after sex
holding hands
eyes that talk

the soul writes your story
on the chamber walls in your hearts
tucks in the meaty folds
unknowns that paralyze
offspring in pain
lupus latching on 

the whole of it
your lives
intertwined like braided wool
the waning storms of
past and present 
rolling out a red carpet to
a future that will attempt
to steal your Beings

but you are dressed to the tens
dazzling with acceptance
gold rings
a locket necklace
a bow tie

what the mind forgets
are tracks in sand
but not the sand
not the gull’s desperate opera
the wind on ripe leaves
the ocean’s yawn

this obesity of living
re-minds the heart
how to hold love
tenderly
fiercely
eternally